Bruins describe the end of their season, remain optimistic for the future

The Boston Bruins are out of the playoffs after falling 3-2 to the Senators in overtime at TD Garden on Sunday. And despite battling to the end in a tightly contested six-game series, players couldn’t mask their disappointment speaking afterward.

Still, several players echoed optimism regarding the team’s future.

“This team’s only going to get better and tighter and get on the right side of these one-goal games, and still be playing into rounds two, three and the finals,” said David Backes.

If there’s a big deal to be made, there’s a good chance that the Bruins, still very much in the market for an upgrade to their defense and forward corps, are in on it. Or at least attempting to get in on it.

The first batch of offseason rumors linked the Bruins to the Wild, this time for defensive help, namely Jonas Brodin, a player the Wild risk losing for nothing via the expansion draft later this month. But the latest has connected the Bruins back to two of their in-season trade targets: One of the Colorado’s high-ceiling, but undeniably scenery-changing-needed forwards, Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog.

By now, the B’s interest in both Duchene and Landeskog has been well documented.

Duchene, under contract at $6 million for another two seasons, is back on the market following an 18-goal, 41-point campaign for the straight-up dreadful Avalanche. A forward capable of playing both center and left wing, the 26-year-old Duchene has been a hot-and-cold talent throughout his career, but is just one season removed from the first and only 30-goal season of his NHL career.

With a mid-first round pick and then a series of mid-to-late picks in the other rounds, it was never likely that the Bruins were going to make a big splash.

Most fans didn’t count on coming out of this draft with an NHL-ready player, nor with a player who was going to immediately go out and snag some headlines.

Instead, the fans got what they probably expected: a steady, modest approach to continuing to stock the farm system with kids who play the game the way the Bruins want it played.

This isn’t to say that none of these kids is talented, or that none has the potential to be a flashy, headline-making player; rather that as they have in the past, the Bruins chose to go with steady over flashy, two-way over specialized.

Defense was the theme of this draft for the Bruins, as three of their six picks were blueliners.

Yet they might. Pierre McGuire said on TSN Radio Tuesday that his guess is that Shattenkirk, arguably the best free agent defenseman on the market, will end up in Boston.

It is remarkable how universally against a Shattenkirk megadeal B’s fans have seemingly been. A Twitter poll with over 3,600 votes this month had Bruins fans preferring Boston sign 40-year-old Zdeno Chara to a two-year, $8 million extension than the 28-year-old Shattenkirk to a seven-year, $45.5 million deal.

That is obviously the correct conclusion, but considering how hard the false “Chara is old and bad” garbage is pushed in this town, it’s telling that 64 percent would rather he stick around than the team build the defense around Shattenkirk.

Agostino has spend part of the last few seasons between the NHL and the AHL, first with the Calgary Flames and last year with the St. Louis Blues. He tallied 24 goals and 59 assists, a total of 83 points, en route to winning AHL MVP, and looking at his progression from his seasons in the AHL, it’s a risk worth taking on Sweeney’s part to see if he’s ready for the big time.

Last offseason, the signing of Tim Schiller was a low-risk, high-reward fourth line signing. The more consistent he could play, the more time he’d see in the lineup. It paid dividends, as for a brief period of time, he found his way on the second line based on his play. Regardless, his fourth line consistency, albeit not always present on the scoreboard (7g, 7a in 59g), was worth re-signing him, and that’s just what the Bruins did.

There still are a few weeks of beach days left in New England, but it’s never too early to start talking about hockey. Boston Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs joined WEEI’s “Dale and Holley with Keefe” on Wednesday during the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon presented by Arbella Insurance Foundation, and one of the topics he discussed was David Pastrnak’s contract status. Pastrnak, who had 34 goals and 70 points last season for the B’s, is a restricted free agent and hasn’t been signed for the upcoming 2017-18 season. So, Jacobs was asked about the negotiations during his WEEI appearance, and here’s what he said:

How exactly do you discuss Charlie McAvoy without getting excited for having a whole year of him ahead of you?

An absolute star in BU’s defense, the highest scoring (by almost ten points), leading the Terrier’s blueline in practically everything: Points (assists especially), Points per game, tied for power play points amongst defensemen...the works. McAvoy was a man amongst boys in Hockey East this year, and made himself out to be a star in the process. He signed an ATO for Providence, but circumstances meant the B’s had to sign him full time and see what he could do for them in the NHL Playoffs.

Whether by need or by nature...they trusted him almost implicitly.

And these were Playoff games! NHL Playoff Games! And the Bruins knew they could trust him right off the bat. He drove possession, he blocked shots, he stopped plays before they ever began, he played like he’d been playing in the NHL for about five years. He played like he had nothing to prove and made the team look better by having him on the ice. And they had him on the ice a lot.

David Pastrnak is still without a contract as training camp nears, and the 21-year-old restricted free agent winger’s goals are going to be needed for the Boston Bruins this season.

He scored 34 of them last season, which trailed only the 39 posted by Brad Marchand on the team, and Pastrnak’s breakout 70-point season has left his camp and the Bruins apart in negotiations throughout the offseason.